2009 Christmas letter

Here is our Christmas letter that never got sent for this year:

Dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
We have had quite the banner year around here!

Alex is in first grade, and last spring and this fall, not once did we have to send him to school in his pajamas or without a breakfast! Quite an accomplishment - especially if you saw our house in the early mornings! (A true Christmas letter must have exclamation points after all the sentences....) He is a bright boy and talks our heads off constantly! Patrick and I now have stock in ear plug companies!

Vivianne 'got out into the world' this year when she started dance classes at our church. However we pulled her out of them early. As much as Patrick and I love to pay for her to sit in a corner and watch other kids dance, we decided this is something we could do at home - for free. Much to her dismay, her dance class was 'fun' but didn't offer enough time to play with toys.

Avalon is quite the stylish gal for three. She can in just one day, pull out every piece of clothing from her closet and dress-up bin and try them on! She doesn't yet know how to really fold clothes though, so we look forward to teaching her new skill sets!

Talia is a fourth born baby in 5.5 years. We are so thankful that she has survived the year, and has never gone without food (for too long) nor has any trauma happened thanks to eager and loving older bro and sisters!

Tara has had a full year too. (Why does everyone talk about themselves third-person in Christmas letters???) She hasn't traveled anywhere amazing, but she does have an amazing amount of laundry to do each day. She never went anywhere exotic, but she has scrapped some very exoctic food off of dirty dishes that are never-ending. Sometimes there was even exotic things growing in a particular dish left to be discovered in the far reaches.... of the basement. She likes to garden too - which is fun since the garden didn't grow this year. Life is always full of surprises!

Patrick is an amazing husband busy with his job and helping Tara with the kids and house. We find cleaning the house exciting, because when we get to a room that has had 'junk' on the floor for forever and we actually clean it all up - the carpet looks brand new! And since we are trying to remodel half our home, the 'areas of junk' that collect are bountiful indeed! After the kids are in bed at night we enjoy passing out on the couch from the exhaustion of the day and staring at the walls.

Hope your next year is truly exciting too!
Love, us